And the Crowd Goes Wild
by Yugi16dm
Summary: Joey's scouted out of nowhere to join a certain dueling agency. He travels around, dueling, when a rival agency challenges Joey and his group out of jealousy over their fame to an inter-agency tournament that becomes a huge deal. Friendships are challenged, love blooms, and tears fall as Joey strives to overcome the people who want nothing but to see him fail.
1. Scouted

_Hello, Yu-Gi-Oh! fans! It's been a very long while since I've written anything_ — _let alone done any story_ - _writing for my favorite fandom_ — _and I recently got back into it and decided what better way to make a comeback than to write something fresh. I had this idea come to me during a delirious night of insomnia and pizza-induced lazyness._

 _I'm not sure whether my writing style has changed or not, but whether or not it has, I hope you find my story enjoyable and continue coming back for more! Please review to let me know how I'm doing so far!_

 _This first chapter is a prologue of sorts. Anyway, onto the fic!_

* * *

 **Chapter One: Scouted**

"I'm sorry… could you run that by me one more time?"

The older man sitting across sighed quietly and leaned back against his seat in favor of giving his knees a break from his elbows. He ran a tanned hand through his soft, dark hair—though it was graying somewhat, indicating his age—and fondled the edge of his neatly-ironed dark blue suit, gray tie hanging perfectly in place. He was obviously a bit more of a higher-up in the business. He looked ahead at his guest sitting across from him–who happened to be sporting a very confused facial expression—and took a breath to speak.

"Kaiba Corporation would like to hire you."

"Why, exactly?" Joey blurted, thoroughly confused. Was this a prank Kaiba was pulling on him? Where were the cameras? He promptly started looking at the ceiling in the corners of the room which they were in, but found no cameras whatsoever. Is he bugged then? "What's Kaiba pulling?" He asked aloud. He wasn't about to fall for anything.

"Mr. Kaiba knows nothing about this as of yet, if that's why you're confused. Just let me explain." The man implored. Joey simply stayed quiet, but nodded to indicate that he could continue and that he was listening. The other nodded in response. "Very well. Within Kaiba Corp. there are many, many departments for very different things. There are even entirely full-on companies within the building that operate inside the building as their own, with their own floor. You think it's just us in this big tower?" The man asked rhetorically. "Now, I happen to be a representative and a scout for the KCDA, which stands for Kaiba Corporation Dueling Agency. We'd like you to join our agency as a professional duelist. There are a few others and we'd be happy to have you join us. You were highly recomme—"

"Hold on," Joey interrupted. "You're telling me you want me to duel for you guys? Like, a pro duelist who gets paid to duel? And has a manager? And… travels? All that?" Joey was a bit excited at the thought, but horrified that he was being approached by Kaiba's employees. Does Kaiba really not know this conversation is happening right now? And wait, had he started to say he was highly recommended? By who?

"Yes, and between travels, you'll be living in the share house provided by Kaiba Corp. when you're in the vicinity. That would mean, of course, that you'd no longer be staying at your current residence and since you're still in school, you would be finishing out the year electronically—with online teachers—and then next year you can do an independent study. We provide tutors and professors as required.

"You will have many benefits and advantages. For example, we will pay for all travel expenses, you—that is to say you, duelists—will fly in a private jet if needed, you'll have full coverage in terms of health insurance, and I've already mentioned the home and schooling provisions. Also, there's no penalty for breaking the contract if—and only if—you break it because you wish to leave the agency to pursue a normal lifestyle. In fact, once you leave, whether early or once the contract ends, we'll make sure you have proper living arrangements and good references for work. Mr. Kaiba ensures that you won't just be dumped on the street with nowhere to go once you're finished, especially when we provide a home."

"Whoa," was all that came out of Joey's mouth. He was amazed, impressed even. Kaiba really outdid himself with provisions for this little dueling agency of his. There's no way that he thought of being so generous all on his own unless he wasn't involved in it. "Who runs the agency? I mean, Kaiba couldn't possibly be in charge of absolutely everything in this company, could he? And you said he doesn't know I'm being recruited right now."

"If you accept, you will get to meet him—the one in charge, I mean. For now, I'm going to let you take time to think about the proposition. You will be under contract, after all, and the discussion of pay can be made then as well; however, if you're interested in what that would look like, I can tell you that for now, since you'd be just starting, you're sitting on a pay of about $15k per duel, win or lose." Joey's eyes widened. That was more than he'd expected. "That will likely change over the course of the year if you show interest, involvement, effort, all that jazz. It will be much higher as you go. But, as I said, we'll discuss that at a later date. I'll give you a week to think about it and then someone will call to meet with you and see what you've decided. Until then," the man stood up and Joey did, too. They shook hands and Joey made his way out of the room and into an elevator. He was out of there within a few minutes and nearly sprinted home.

He had to tell someone… and ask their opinion.

* * *

 _And there's the short prologue. I don't have any set day to update because I'm really stretched right now. So it will be slightly random. Also, if you can't wait for the next chapter, here's a little hint. The last word of each chapter will be the title for the next one. I'm so sneaky, wahahaha! However, because this chapter's so short, I'll be uploading the next one immediately. That's two in one day! I'm so nice._

 _Anyway, like I said earlier, please review so I can see how I'm doing. Have a good day!_


	2. Opinionated

**Chapter Two: Opinionated**

"No." There was a pause. "Absolutely not."

"Come on, Tristan, we should be happy for Joey. We should be excited!" Teah shifted her gaze from Tristan to Joey. "Well, _I_ think you should totally do it. We'd miss you, obviously, but it's such a great opportunity for you and," she shifted her gaze back to Tristan, glaring at him, "we'll completely support you." She said through gritted teeth. Tristan gave her a sheepish grin.

"And we'll get to see you on TV!" Yugi chimed in.

"Yeah!" Duke cried excitedly.

"The TV's not the same as being there in person." Tristan defended with a pout.

"We can call him, too." Teah retorted.

"And there's Skype and FaceTime!" Yugi added. "It's not like there aren't ways to keep in touch, Tristan."

Joey stared at his friends as they talked. They all seemed to agree that he should go through with the pro duelist thing. Well, all but one. He looked at Tristan, who had his arms crossed, and asked, "Why don't you want me to do it, Tris?" If there was any reason that he shouldn't he'd like to know.

Tristan looked at Joey and answered hesitantly, "I dunno, I guess I'll just miss you, man. School's not the same without you. Hell, _life's_ not the same without you. Imagine all that psycho shit happening without you there… it's impossible." The others seemed to agree with Tristan on that. "You're a necessary part of this group and… well, if you go away it's just not the same. But… I guess if we maintain communication—all of us—it _could_ be like you're still here. So I guess I think you should do it, too." Tristan said, finally.

Joey took a deep breath. It had already been a couple of days since he'd met with… that man. He swore he had told him his name before, but it slipped his mind. He'd have to ask. Did it even matter, though? Whatever. It had been Friday and today was Monday, which was why his friends were only finding out now. He hadn't seen his friends all weekend due to having gone to see his sister in the next town over.

"My only real issue is…" Joey paused as he chewed on the thought, a slight look of distaste on his face. "…the fact that I'd be working for Kaiba."

Yugi eyed his friend remorsefully. "I'm sure it's not as bad as you're thinking. You probably won't even ever see Kaiba. From what you told us, it doesn't sound like he's all that involved in the agency's operations."

"I know for a fact that he's too busy dealing with some big new project to be paying attention to anything else. That, and some new device he's supposedly coming out with soon." Everyone stared at Duke, who gave them a look as if he'd expected that to be common knowledge by now.

"Since when do you know so much about what Kaiba's doing?" Tristan asked.

"I'm practically in the same business as he is; I have to know that stuff. Gotta keep up with the competition." Duke shrugged.

"I wonder what the project is all about. Do you have any clue, Duke?" Yugi questioned.

"All that's been leaked is that it's something about a school, but it's only on paper right now. Probably will take ten years or so to actually be finished, give or take. I don't know too much about it or if he's really trying to build a school."

Teah leaned forward. "He's got more patience than I've given him credit for if that's true." Everyone nodded in agreement. She addressed Joey now. "In any case, Joey, Kaiba's not gonna bother with you so don't even think about it." She smiled sweetly at him.

"Wait a second," Tristan said suddenly, "why wasn't Yugi approached for this?" Everyone suddenly looked at Yugi.

"Or was he?" Duke asked no one in particular. Yugi looked at everyone as they each looked to him for an answer. He shook his head.

"Don't look at me like that, I get nervous!"

"Were you approached to duel for them, Yug?" Joey questioned his friend. "I think I remember him saying something about me being highly recommended. Was that you?"

Yugi once again shook his head and waved his hands frantically. "N-no! It wasn't me. Yeah, I was approached, but I declined. I don't want to be a professional duelist or anything like that, but I didn't say anything about any recommendations. Honest."

The rest of them sighed and changed the topic.

The bell rang and they all simultaneously stood from the lunch table they had been sitting at and dumped the contents of their trays into the waste bin and split up to head to their next classes. Come day's end, they all walked out of the school gates talking and laughing amongst themselves.

A few more days passed and suddenly it was Thursday. Yugi perked up after school and invited them all to hang out at his house for a few hours. Everyone agreed minus Duke, who had to check up on his game shop. He regretfully waved goodbye and even hugged Joey before leaving. And then they headed off to Yugi's.

They watched TV, played a game or two, ate together, laughed together and, once it was time to go, cried together. They wanted to spend as much time as they could with Joey, now that they knew it was only a matter time before he'd be off travelling the country to duel. Tomorrow Joey would meet with the scout and get himself officially recruited.

* * *

 _And there you have it! Like I said last chapter, uploads will be sporadic. I'm sorry, but that's just my situation right now. But look at the bright side. At least we know what the next one's about! :D_

 _Please review and have a good day!_


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